Banana Bread (Paleo, Grain Free, Gluten Free)

There comes a time when you buy bananas and then leave them to sit in the fruit basket until you notice that the object that was once yellow is now a heavily spotted mess. For me, this is an every time event. It can be quite the predicament at first thought because I don’t really know anyone that could eat a banana that utterly goopy and enjoy it. You would have to pretend that it’s just an incredibly sweet and banana-ey tasting plate of cauliflower mash.

Gross, and that will that never ever happen. I don’t suggest imagining it either. Although at this point I suppose it’s inevitable that you would imagine it because I keep bringing it up. I’ll stop with my incessant ripe banana escapade talk and move on to the plus side of this. The plus side is that there is a specific law set in place for those who do things like letting there bananas sit there to get ot the point of mushy ripening. That law would be that you are required to make banana bread at that point.

See you don’t even have to make the decision to make it because it’s required. Have you got really ripe bananas? Great now make banana bread and be a happy camper. All joking aside though I really am quite happy with the way this banana bread turned out. In the words of my mother “oh my god this tastes like actual banana bread…” Well of course it does, that was the idea mom.

I don’t want to sound snooty and would like to say that this may just be the best Paleo Banana bread out there, but I’m not certain it would be right to say that. Especially seeing as I haven’t tried any of the other grain free or Paleo banana breads on the internet. But believe me when I say this is incredibly delicious, it’s one of the most moist, tender and satisfying baked goods I’ve ever had the pleasure to pull out of the oven.

I brought a loaf to school to share with my friends at lunch (which they all raved about and had no idea that it was Paleo banana bread that they were eating) but the people who didn’t get any but were in the classes before lunch were searching around the room trying to figure out where the scent was aerating from. Several people actually started to become frustrated wondering and asking why it smelled so good and where it was coming from. Being the sneak I am I only smirked and let them be confused. It was quite odd though, I’ve never seen people get so frustrated over a good smell because they couldn’t locate where it was coming from.

Maybe it was because they knew they weren’t getting any. I think I’ll have to bake up some more and bring it to those classes another day so they can at least taste it after having to endure that torture. Just try not to do what I did and share it with the people who might start to look around to figure out where that wonderful aroma is coming from or else you might have an outbreak of mass panic.

½ cup butter melted + extra butter unmelted for greasing (preferably grass-fed or you could sub with coconut oil but it's way better with butter)

¼ cup cacao nibs

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¾ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon no additive liquid stevia or ¼ cup honey (can increase honey all the way up to ⅓ cup of honey or ½ teaspoon of liquid stevia but I wouldn't recommend going above ⅓ cup of honey or ½ teaspoon liquid stevia in terms of sweetness. In fact I actually prefer to stick to about ¼ cup of honey if you go to ⅓ cup you want to make sure you use the coconut flour I linked to above because it seems to be more absorbent otherwise just add a couple more teaspoons of coconut flour if it's too runny)

4 eggs

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of salt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 8.5 x 4.5 loaf pan with butter and place a cut bit of parchment paper that fits in the bottom of the loaf pan inside it flat on the bottom.

In a medium sized bowl combine the coconut flour, almond flour, cinnamon, baking soda, cacao nibs, and pinch of salt and mix with a fork to reduce any clumps until thoroughly combined.

In a small bowl add eggs, vanilla extract, stevia or honey and whisk then add mashed banana to the egg mixture and whisk more until well combined.

Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry and stir with a spoon until thoroughly combined then add melted butter and continue stirring until well incorporated.

Spoon all of the bater in your greased loaf pan and spread it out evenly with a scraper and shape it in any way you want (specifically in the shape of a loaf so that it rises like that)

Place in the oven for 40-45 minutes or until the center is pierced with a toothpick and the toothpick comes out clean.

Pull out of the oven and let it cool slightly (only for a minute or so) then carefully run a knife along the edges to make sure nothing is sticking and cautiously invert it onto your hand or a wire rack and flip it so the bottom is laying flat on the wire rack and let it cool for 20-30 minutes. (if you can wait that long)

Notes

Update: for those of you who have had runny batter I believe it has to do with the brand of coconut flour, I think that Bobs Red Mill Organic Coconut Flour is slightly more absorbent than some of the other brands. This is amazing sliced and toasted with butter in a pan. Just turn a pan to medium heat and add a butter pat to the pan and let it melt slightly then add the bread and swirl it around on both sides until it's toasted to your liking. Crisy-edged, warm and buttery goodness.

Comments

ok, just added 15 minutes to the muffins. smell great. are you going to post this? hope not. Just went on Amazon and bought the cookbook! listened to your story. awesome. added your site to my favorites. thanks soo much.

Made this recipe today. I have been searching for a gluten free bread for a long time and this one is by far the best one on the internet. My husband asked me what that wonderful aroma was while it was baking. It turned out perfect. The mixture was slightly runny, but when it came out of the oven, (and I did wait 30 minutes before cutting), it sliced up just like your photo. And the taste….awesome. This is going in my favorites recipe book. Thank you for much. I am so excited to try another recipe!!!

When you try that banana “ice cream” be sure to try the chocolate version by adding some cocoa powder, a very little honey (depending upon the sweetness of your bananas) and the trick ingredient….a tsp or 2 of peanut butter (you won’t even taste it, but it ads that smoothness like butter fat does to ice cream). This is sooo good that I never miss that nasty old ice cream. And my husband even likes it.

This sounds great. I never have time for baking so I asked my mom if I bought all the ingredients for banana bread would she make it for me (I’m the only paleo person in my family), she said yes so I started looking. Making a list now and hoping to have some wonderful banana bread soon. Banana ice cream is AMAZING, I am strict paleo so I use almond butter instead of peanut butter. Thanks for all your work, I purchased your book and can’t wait to start trying some of your other recipes.

This sounds wonderful. I’m going to try it as soon as the bananas that are sitting on my counter get past the stage where anyone in my family will eat them!
You have such a talent of styling the food you make. All of your photos are beautiful!

Well, the only other flour substitutes that I can think of that would be similar for this and not be coconut flour or almond flour would be sunflower seed flour and flaxseed flour but you said they were nut and seed free so I suppose that won’t work. I’m afraid I don’t have any substitutions but I’m pretty sure coconut isn’t actually a nut or seed it’s actually a drupe so you may be able to just sub all coconut flour minus the almond flour. Coconut flour is fairly absorbent and you could probably do this without the almond flour at all but just to be safe I’d just add 1 more tablespoon of coconut flour and that should be just fine. I only added the almond flour for a specific texture and taste in the final product and batter consistency. I still recommend doing it with almond flour and coconut but If you’re friend can’t have nuts or seeds then I would just sub all coconut flour the way I described earlier.

I just made this and I used bob’s red mill biscuit and baking mix instead of the almond flour. ( it is made with rice flour and garbanzo bean flour. It turned out very good. I just used a little less baking soda than the recipe said since the baking mix has it in there. I still used coconut flour too, though.

This is a delicious banana bread! I really love it- the texture is much better than other paleo banana bread recipes I’ve tried. However, my New-York living sweet treat indulging older sister thought it had no sweet taste whatsoever. -_- Well, more for me, I think it is plenty sweet! Besides, it’s banana bread, not banana cake. Thanks for the great recipe!

Hey April, so happy you like the banana bread. This banana bread can be made sweeter if you like and you can bump it up to 1/2 cup of honey if you want it sweeter, but in my opinion the bananas add plenty of sweetness to it and it doesn’t need much more. I think your older sister might be a sugar fiend, but she’s still your sister and you have no choice but to love her ;P. Also I agree with your philosophy, more for you!

I made this recipe for my parents who are just starting to be interested in Paleo and they both loved it. Better yet, my mom brought it to a family function and they all loved it too. So congrats on creating a Paleo bread recipe that is popular with non-paleo people! Though I did use dark chocolate chips instead of cocoa nibs because that’s what I had in my house, but I cut back on the honey to about an 1/8th of of a cup. I’ve made other Paleo banana bread recipes, and this one was much more fluffy and moist. I will definitely be making this again!

Hi Kristin, I’m so glad you liked the banana bread. You can either get it locally from a local farmer which I recommend or if you can’t find one then there is a really great brand that I like to use called Kerrygold. They are a really great company with very high standards and their regular salted butter is great and 100 percent grass fed from cows in Ireland.

I just made this. I could not find cacoa nibs and I was out so I used some mini chocolate chips. I also did not want to use up all my raw honey so I used half honey and half coconut sugar.

My oven is a big dumb stupid head and never bakes right. I ended up burning the bottom of the bread. It still tastes ok. It is really not sweet at all though. This is good but if your family is used to sweeter banana bread they might not care for this.

It’s very likely it burned because of the coconut sugar, whenever you use liquid things to add sweetness like honey or stevia the baking times can change for that. In terms of sweetness I’m sorry that it wasn’t sweet enough, I feel like they are sweet enough because the bananas add some sweetness and honey and stevia are supposed to be sweeter than most sugars including coconut sugar. You can up the honey up to 1/2 cup and there shouldn’t be any problems but I wouldn’t recommend going above 1/3 of a cup in terms of sweetness.

No, don’t use a full cup of coconut flour. You can most likely skip the almond flour IF your allergic to nuts because the coconut flour is really absorbent. Really the almond flour is just there for consistency, so the final product will not be the same. You could grind up sunflower seeds into a flour and mix that into the batter and you might still get the consistency without the use of nuts (I would only recommend this to those who are allergic to nuts though). Good luck, and let me know how it goes!

Can’t wait to try this….heard you were going to do banana ice cream next – I make an awesome soft serve in my vita-mix that the kids LOVE…..frozen banana pieces, 1 can organic coconut milk, bit of vanilla….that’s it! We have done it with blueberries and strawberries as well. With the banana it tastes just like vanilla soft-serve :o)

I don’t normally make banana bread but was inspired by overripe bananas at the store and this recipe. I didn’t have cinnamon so used nutmeg instead and substituted the coconut oil for the butter. It’s so good!!! Thanks for sharing!!

This is the best paleo banana bread I have found and it hasn’t been for lack of trying. I have made at least 6 attempts with other paleo recipes and this is by far the best one – THANK YOU JOSH!! I saw your post on nom nom paleo and tracked over and saw the banana bread recipe and had to try! The only modification I made was to add walnuts. This is definitely a recipe to print and keep! Me so happy!

Thank you for the recipe, the taste was great. My dough appeared much more wet/liquid then pictured in your blog. I tried to add a bit more flours at the end. I usually measure by weight, coconut and almond flour can be finicky when measuring. Next time, I will add more of the flours. Gluten free flours can be compacted and have more variable to them if not done by weight. We will try this recipe again, and this time, just scoop the flours.
Thanks again, I think what you are doing is amazing, good for you. Keep the recipes coming.

Hi Josh,
Thanks for posting such a great recipe. I was just wondering, you mention half a cup of butter in the ingredient list, but I can’t find in the method what I’m supposed to do with it..
Seeing as I’m half way through, I’m just gonna add it in and hope for the best.

I just baked this and it turned out great! Thanks for posting the recipe… so far my paleo bread efforts have been pretty average as I usually bake with just almond meal and the bread comes out mushy and crumbly 🙁 this time it’s turned out perfect with the coconut flour! Very delicious 🙂 It is definitely sweet enough too.

Well if it’s too moist, then you didn’t bake it long enough. Everyones oven works differently if you can insert a toothpick and it comes out dry when you think it’s done then it’s done. Otherwise leave it in the oven.

Hahaaa…I agree as I had to cook my still VERY moist banana nut loaf for over 1.5 hrs when the original recipe called for your typical 1 hr… The darn thing just didn’t want to dry up… But I ended up removing it from the cooling oven after I came back from running errands and even though still ‘wet’ , it tasted awesome… I was looking for a recipe that called for coconut flour as I thought that might improve on the absorption capability and came across your recipe…sounds perfect! Will give it a try just the way you have it! And also sub with oat flour and see what happens!

Josh, this is an awesome recipe! I had my doubts, but this was seriously the best banana bread I’ve made since being gluten free. I’m going to serve it at a family reunion and see if all the sugar/gluten eating people can tell the difference. Also, thanks for your amazing blog and the inspiration you are. I have two teenage boys and I showed them your story and they were very impressed with what you have done and are doing.

I just made this in a double batch. I used 1 cup of coconut flour, I didn’t have almond flour. I also used honey instead and because I didn’t have cacao nibs on hand I used pecans. It came out VERY good!!! Wonderful recipe!!!

Sara – I’m so glad to see that you subbed pecans for the cacao nibs and it came out so good! I’m just not a huge fan of chocolate in baked things except for chocolate chip cookies. Can’t wait to try it!

Josh, do you think this recipe would work cooked as pancakes? I have yet to find satisfying paleo pancakes; this bread has the perfect texture. I only eat pancakes occasionally, so I’m not worried about the honey or anything like that. I think it will work! if I try it, I’ll report back.

This is my absolute FAVORITE paleo pancake recipe. I have tried countless others but this one just beats them all. My wife is a pancake aficionado of sorts and I had to meet this challange in my efforts to convert her. So here it is- http://wellnessmama.com/2354/fast-coconut-flour-pancakes/ x

Hey Leah, I haven’t tried making these into muffins but I’d imagine you would probably cut the baking time in half or so. My guess would be 15-20 mins. After 15 mins check and see how they’re doing and check them by inserting a toothpick in the center of one and if it comes out clean they’re done. Good luck.

Made this recipe yesterday – used raw honey, but completely forgot to add the butter. I was able to salvage about half the loaf. It was not bad, my kids loved it thanks to the nibs. Will definitely have this as one of my go to recipes, but with the butter next time.

well, I haven’t tried to make pancakes from this recipe… yet. however, I did make some delicious pumpkin bread, using 1 cup of canned, plain pumpkin puree (freshly baked pumpkin would be even better, I’m sure!). I used 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg and a dash of ground cloves (to approximate pumpkin pie spice) and added ~1/2 cup of Enjoy Life dark chocolate chips instead of the cacao nibs — everything else remained the same. and it came out great! next time I make it with pumpkin, I think I’ll use orange zest instead of spices and add fresh cranberries instead of chocolate chips or cacao nibs — that sounds like a perfect Thanksgiving/holiday bread. it’s really a great recipe; SO much better than other paleo quick breads I’ve tried. thanks again!

I made this yesterday and it tastes amazing! Since I didn’t have all of the ingredients I made a couple of changes – I used almond butter (Artisana raw organic) instead of almond flour (same quantity), i used a full teaspoon of cinnamon and baking powder, I added 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts. It needed longer cooking and is more cake than bread like but is SO delicious 🙂

Today, whether or not you have Celiac disease or perhaps you are steering clear
of gluten for some other reasons, there are numerous gluten-free desserts that can address
your appetite’s requirement for desserts. Yes, cinnamon rolls may be a thing of the past, but not all indulgences have to be put on the shelf. * Cooking sheets and surfaces are used exclusively for gluten free baking.

Fantastic recipe! I opted for walnuts instead of cacao nibs and then made them into muffins. Took them out at 15 minutes and brushed some melted butter and crushed walnuts on top then put them back in the oven for another 25 minutes. They came out perfectly 🙂 I doubled the recipe and it made 24 muffins.

I made this today and i have to say, this is the only paleo bread I have ever liked, even my husband loved it and he hates when I make paleo desserts/breads. I have no idea what other people are talking about when they say it’s not sweet enough, it is PERFECT!

My batter wasn’t as thick as the picture shows…maybe my eggs were larger? I added a couple tablespoons of coffee for extra flavor, subbed hazelnut and pecan flours for the almond, added walnuts, and cut out the cacao nibs. Very good recipe!

Really moist. I think it actually got better as the days went on. I used coconut oil and loved it. LOVED it! I think next time I’m going to use half coconut oil and half almond butter. YUM!!!! LOVE. I just toasted a slice and put dark chocolate coconut ice cream on top!

Thanks, I ended up cooking it for almost double the time and was able to salvage it:). A bit browner than it should have been but it ended up tasting great:). Definitely going to make again. Next time I will up my oven temperature. Thanks again for the feedback.

I also just made this and it turned out completely wet in the middle. I used coconut oil instead of butter as you said I could… Do you think that’s the reason it isn’t working? I cook a lot and never have problems with my oven temp. It smells delicious though!

I really think it’s either your elevation or your oven has a problem to be honest. Typically I would assume it was the recipe but 95 percent of the people who have tried it on here including myself have made it with no problems at all. Are you using coconut flour and almond flour and not almond meal? How much honey did you use? I suggest 1/4 cup.

I am at normal elevation (I think.. Around 1200 ft not it the mountains or anything). I use honeyville fine grain blanched almond flour and I followed the instructions perfectly minus the coconut oil sub. I ended up baking it for about 25 more minutes and lowered it to 325 for that portion then let it sit for an hour and it turned out pretty good! Flavor is great!

I cook this at elevation and have to bake it longer than the recipe because of that, so I just cover it loosely with some foil once it has browned and continue to bake it until done.

I also wonder what kind of almond flour you are using: I find using a coarser ground flour like Bob’s Red Mill does tend to be more wet as it doesn’t absorb the liquids as well as a finer ground flour. Hope that helps!

I made two loaves since I had 5 brown bananas, they came out nicely in 55, and my 7 year old says it is the best banana bread ever! High praise from my picky boy! Thanks for the great grain free recipe!

This banana bread recipe turned out absolutely perfect! I used Enjoy Life chocolate chips and threw in a few dried cranberries. So moist and cooked up perfect at 4700 ft. Elevation 😉 thanks so much! I don’t think the loaf will last long. Huge hit with my husband and 11 year old son as well.

This recipe makes my life currently. I subbed in coconut sugar, a smidge more flour because i’m at a high altitude and i threw in some fresh strawberries at the end so they’re strawberry banana … and i made muffins. and they are divine. like an angel landed in my mouth. thank you!! 🙂

I searched out ‘paleo banana bread’ and it led me to your delicious recipe! Made this last night and it was fantastic! The texture was very similar to regular banana bread, which was great! The only sub i did was walnuts for cacao nibs as I didn’t have any on hand. So glad I found your blog — keep the recipes coming!

Just made this last night – fantastic!!! Best Paleo banana bread I’ve ever had and I’ve made a lot trying to get them right!
Best part – even better in the morning (I sliced it up and stored it in the fridge last night) as banana bread French toast! This is my new banana bread recipe! Won’t be making another!

I’m pretty sure the extra liquid came from the bananas because over a tablespoon of banana juice dropped into mixing bowl prior to the mashed banana solids. The ripeness stage of the fruit seems to be a HUGE variable which I have not seen discussed anywhere else in the comments. I followed the recipe-with the exception of mixing up a half portion-because I typically get VERY excited over these things and end up with a loaf that is fit for the trash. Sure my math could have been off but I checked n double checked etc…

Loaf is in the oven as I type so I am unable to give a rating at this time. I’m really hoping for stellar banana bread that has a wonderful mouth feel and amazing taste. We shall see…

Did you add liquid with the honey? It should just be honey and no almond milk. I don’t really think that 1 tablespoon of banana juice would turn it from perfect consistency to soup. I’ve only had this soupy complaint a few times, most people are having perfect success with it following it the way i described. The fact that you did a half portion could have very well been the reason why. DId you half the amount of banana too? There are so many errors that could be made when you change a recipe, sometimes it’s just best to stick to the recipe given without any changes what so ever.

especially in baking, there are major changes needed when scaling a recipe up or down beyond simple multiplication or division. I think the consistency of the bananas, the size of the eggs, variations in moisture content of different almond and coconut flours and the humidity of one’s location can all affect the batter’s consistency. if the batter seems too liquid, why not add a spoonful of coconut flour before baking? it takes very little to absorb a lot of liquid.

Found your sight aimlessly wandering on the internet! 🙂 I have been eating grain free for a little over a year now and have made countless banana breads and this one by far is the best one yet!!! It was so moist! I didn’t add any nibs and added pecans. Ridiculously good! Thank you!

I just made this with my son. It is soooo good! My kids usually turn their nose up at everything I make, but they loved this. I didn’t have cocao nibs and it’s still yummy. I will try those next time. Thank you for a new family favourite!

So this afternoon I attempted this recipe and being it was the first banana bread I have ever made it turned out pretty good! I think I slightly overdosed on the butter as I didn’t really measure it cause I was unsure whether the recipe called for 1/2 cup of butter before or after melting lol. So I just added as much as I thought was needed. I think this may have changed the consistency a lot cause my bread ended up being a cake-like texture so it crumbled a bit but it was still very tasty! Next time I think I’ll not put so much butter in. But thank you for this recipe! So glad I stumbled across your website 🙂

Tried this recipe with a few substitutions. I didn’t have coconut flour so added 1 cup of GF AP flour in place of coconut flour and reduced the eggs to two. Instead of almond flour, added 1/2 cup allmond meal and used 1/4 butter + 1/4 cup coconut oil. Added chocolate chips instead of the nibs. It turned out great. Thanks for the wonderful recipe. Can’t wait to try your other recipes.

Tried and loved! I do the same thing as you–buy bananas with every intention of eating them, but they usually go overripe. This recipe absolutely makes me wish I had found it before my household went grain free! It’s SO good! I’ve omitted cacao nibs and increased the banana a bit with no ill effects, so it’s even forgiving. 🙂

I’ve attempted making this three times, and every time my batter is so liquidy. I triple checked the recipe to make sure I didn’t make a mistake. My batter looks nothing like the picture. Maybe my coconut flour isn’t absorbent enough? Luckily the final product isn’t bad. No one ever complained about banana bread being too moist.

ok so i definately have to say that this is the best paleo banana bread ever especially cauae ive tried other recipes and one have worked literally ive had 0 paleo banana bread in my life because the omes i made in the past just didnt turn right and threw them away ! (I know shame on me !) They just were not edible. So i want to thank u and hugh u 🙂 for this wonderful recipe, also this is my first time using almond flour im always afraid to buy it cause its to expensive but im glad i bought it now 🙂

Thanks sooooo much for your delicious recipe! My family of 3 kids aged 2,5&7 and partner and I just ate it for dinner…. My kids gave it a 12 out of 10 and said its the best banana bread they have ever had!
I doubled your recipe and used the honey instead of stevia… Ended up doing 6 mashed bananas and not even quite a half cup of honey and its sooooo beautifully moist and sweet!
Thankyou for giving us our new family favourite recipe!!! X

Thank you so much for this recipe. The banana bread turned out absolutely wonderful! It is the best paleo banana bread I have tried making so far. The taste is great and the texture is so soft with a nice crispy crust. Beautiful!

I did not have any almond flour at hand, so I completely left that out and just added a tablespoon of raw cacaopowder. I also added extra cinnamom. I did not have any cacao nibs at hand, so I used 72 % Swiss chocolate. Due to the added sweetness of the chocolate I halved the amount of honey.

This delicious bread is indeed very nice with melted (grassfed) butter and walnuts. I also enjoy spreading some almond butter over a slice.

Such a stellar recipe. I sub hazelnut flour for the almond and add nuts instead of cocoa nibs. This is my go-to recipe for banana bread, so I must upgrade my former 4-star rating to 5 stars! Healthy and delicious recipe.

I’m not such a great baker, so before I make this, I wanted to ask if I can use all almond flour?
And it won’t hurt to leave out the chocolate, will it? My husband eats whole30 and would rather I not put In those.

You cannot use all almond flour. Coconut flour has a much different property when baking, it’s incredibly absorbent and absorbs all the liquid in this. It will not work with only almond flour. Also you should be able to use Cacao Nibs while on Whole30. My cacao nibs are only cacao nibs, so added sweeteners or anything like that. But I believe honey is not allowed on the Whole30 so that you would probably have to eliminate. I find my coconut flour at almost all the local grocery stores near me, you should be able to find it too. Look out for Bob’s Red Mill Organic Coconut Flour. There is also a Bob’s Red Mill Coconut Flour that is not organic if your store has that too, non-organic coconut is supposed to be pretty safe since it has a hard outer shell.

Just made this recipe and it is delicious! i used walnuts instead of cacao nibs and added flaxseeds into the mixture which gave it that ‘multigrain look’. I only put about 1 tablespoon of honey so it wasn’t very sweet, but i figured i could add some kind of spread if i wanted something a bit sweeter (and next time i will try to be less impatient and allow the bananas to go brown first) – even though the loaf is already soo satisfying! I will be experimenting with this recipe, thank you for putting it up!

Woowzer!!!!!! This banana bread is off the hook!!! I love banana bread, and this is my first time making it. Holy moly it is so good. I absolutely love it. I left out the cocoa nibs, but it is still so delicious. I love it!
I’ve got the lemon chia seed muffins in the oven right now. Can’t wait to try those

Please make a cook book!!
And I love all your pictures as you Create this yummy recipes. It helps me to know if I’m doing it right.
Thank you!!!!

Just a suggestion for those of you about to embark on this banana bread quest. I loved pouring mine into a bunt cake form. It makes for perfect serving and even cooking. I didn’t do any chocolate at all and it works just fine. Also, make a double batch and freeze in small portions. That way when someone in your family decides they’ve gone long enough without an indulgence, all you have to do is grab out a section and problem solved… aaaaand you won’t have to worry about eating it all at once…. x

This banana bread is absolutely amazing. it’s so easy to make and delicious. The only complaints I have are with the sweetness and id like a bit more banana flavour, however I did not use brown black very ripe bananas which is what ill try next time. Since it lacked sweetness I drizzled each slice of bread with melon blossom honey I got at a farmers market. So good. I’m more impressed with the texture which is beautiful! When I tried making paleo muffins and chocolate cake before from a different site the texture was not good for either. but this is just like any other non paleo banana bread texture. Thanks for the great recipe!

I baked this banana bread this afternoon. It is SO yummy! My boys could not get enough of it. Not sure it’s going to last the weekend. Thank you for sharing. I can’t wait to try some of your other recipes 🙂

I just made this, and it’s fantastic. Did it exactly as directed with about 3 TBS of honey as my bananas were very sweet to begin with. It’s really lovely and I will revisit this recipe in the future. Thanks for your great recipe!

Just made these and they are delicious!! I had to improvise a bit as I didn’t have coconut flour, so I used all almond and subbed agave for the honey. They came out a little mushy (probably due to my lack of called ingredients), but I’m no Paleo snob, lol! I sliced some up and threw it under the broiler for a minute… Yum! I highly recommend! This is the treat I’ve been missing in my life 🙂

These were fantastic!! Was looking for something that was lower in fat so I substituted 1/2 cup applesauce for butter and they were moist and satisfying! Going to try to sub some blueberries or cranberry/orange to mix it up a bit. The base works so well!

I just made this tonight and it’s definitely very tasty. I did not have cacao nibs so I substituted dairy free mini chocolate chips. This is the (gasp!) first time I’ve ever had banana bread with chocolate chips in it. I think I will omit them in the future.

Do you think the almond flour could be replaced with ground flax (flax flour)? a family member is allergic to all nuts among other things and she is a little girl so i am not worried about her being “paleo” but just a thought specifically for her. Thanks in advanced! PS, this recipe is DEVINE! I made 3 different batches to test sweetness from low, mid, and high and all three were amazing and all 3 were gobbled up within minutes at a family taste tester gathering that i did for all paleo foods i made in my kitchen. STUNNING recipe! *high five*

You cannot replace the almond flour with ground flax but I do think you might be able to replace it with ground sunflower seeds. Also, don’t try and sub anything for the coconut flour, you need the coconut flour for this recipe.

So so dangerous…Will have to freeze so we don’t eat them all in one day.
Added walnuts and dark chocolate chips and made muffins out of the. So moist- great texture for a Gluten free recipe. I am looking forward to making more of your recipes! Thank you!

Thanks for the recipe! I just made it 🙂 Yum!! I substituted almond flour with hazelnut flour and didn’t have butter so added coconut oil instead. Well, it turned out to be more coconut-y and very dry on the top but moist on the bottom. Do you think the hazelnut flour and coconut flour gets overwhelming? Also, is there a way to make it more moist? It also didn’t rise much. But it didn’t taste floury at all so that was good. I now warm it with butter and add a bit of honey on top as I felt there was no hint of sweetness. Also, the bananas weren’t overripe. Maybe that affected the outcome? All in all, I am grateful you shared this paleo recipe. I am always looking for some good recipes where I can eat guilt-free. Best!

I’m in Ireland and I believe our cup sizes are different to yours….I used 1 cup coconut flour and 1/2 cup almond and kept the liquid the same but then found I had waaay too much liquid to add so I didn’t use it all. My batter was much more runny than your pic and the end result looked different (much flatter!) – but it still tasted fab!

I’m new to grain free cooking. I’m an old style southern gal, so it stinks to go from being a phenomenal cook to a fumbling newbie in the kitchen. I have SLE and my dr. recommended grain free living as a way of brining my lupus under control. I found your website and made myself some banana bread. I added 1tbsp. extra coconut flour because the batter looked thin, baked it for 55minutes (I live the mountains) and the bread was FABULOUS! So thanks for giving me a delicious snack and hope that I can figure out this new grain free way of cooking…

exactly what I’m looking for! I let my bananas get too ripe ALL THE TIME so I stick them in the freezer…problem is that half of my frfeezer is full of bananas! defrosting a couple of these and making this tonight! I think I’m also going to add some pecans and semi sweet choco chips since I don’t have cacao nibs. yay!

I followed the recipe except for two things. I used 1/2 c. of Bob’s Red Mill Fine Ground Flaxseed meal, instead of the coconut flour ( just didn’t have it on hand) and lined loaf pan with nonstick foil. I did use 1/4 c. of honey too. Love this recipe!! It is so moist and much healthier!! Thank you for sharing!!

Joshua,
This is my second time making the banana bread. My kids LOVE IT!! They have no idea it is paleo. I do use semi sweet chocolate chips instead of the cacao nibs (I didn’t have any on hand the 1st time), and I use ghee instead of butter. Great recipe!! I can’t wait to try some of your other recipes!! Thank you.

Just made this today. I have tried other gluten free banana bread recipes which taste awful. This is amazing. I didn’t have the cacao nibs so chopped a few mixed nuts and raisins and threw them in instead. My mixture was a little runny so I added 2 tsp coconut flour. It turned out wonderfully and definitely sweet enough (used 1/3 cup honey). Thank you so much for this post!!

I’m beginning to think 1/3 cup of honey might be making it slightly too runny. It’s also important you use the right coconut flour. I linked to the brand of coconut flour that I use which seems to be more absorbent than some other brands.

wow, this bread is really good. i did use fruit syrup instead of honey. i made my own chocolate chips sweetened with fruit syrup. i just used bakers unsweetened chocolate bar and added some fruit syrup to it. thanks for the recipe! 🙂

Very moist. Only changes at this point is I used 1/4 C coconut oil and 1\4 unsalted butter. didn’t used cacao nibs (havent been able to find) used a pinch of nutmeg & put pecan 1/2’s on top. Pretty yummy

Oh absolutely, just put them in greased muffin tins instead. The baking time will change for sure though and I’m not certain how long. It might cut the baking time in half but I’m not certain. Just check them every so often with a toothpick until they come out clean.

This is the first recipe I made from your blog (just found you today!) and I’m so happy that I did! This bread is amazing. I did it exactly as your recipe called for (but I used Enjoy Life chocolate chips) and it was perfect! Even my son (who is so picky) loved it. Thank you so much for this recipe!

WOW !!! Awesome recipe, so light & the cacao nibs soften in the mixture. I am not gluten free / paleo but love trying different things and this is one of the best banana breads I have ever had …. THANK YOU 🙂

If your a searching for the absolute best paleo banana cake, you can stop looking because you have just found it!! Easy and delicious, it tastes just like the non paleo banana bread. Suggestion: make a double batch like I do because one is just not enough, because once you start eating this, it very hard to stop lol! Thank you for this recipe!!

Wow… what a cool recipe! Unfortunately the calories are out of this world. I’ve gone paleo due to IBS problems… and have always been a low-cal healthy eater. Paleo or not, calories have to be watched as the body can only metabolize so much at a time and if too much is consumed it turns into fat. I’m going to use egg replacer and replace applesauce for the melted butter. There are 814 calories in a 1/2 cup of butter – grass fed or not. But very nice recipe that can be altered. Thanks for sharing.

This is the BEST paleo banana bread ever! I have tried several recipes since going paleo and this is by far (very far) the best. The texture is excellent. My parents loved it and had no clue it was paleo. Thank you so much! I made 3 mini loaves with this recipe. One plain, one with pecans and one with the nibs.

How would I adapt this to make it a chocolate banana loaf? I’d like to add cocoa, so should I half the coconut four and add 1/2 or so cup of cocoa as a substitute? I’m new to paleo baking and not familiar with working with coconut flour. Thanks!

I’ve only just found your site and this is the first recipe I’ve tried – and it came out great. My bananas weren’t super ripe, so I mashed some soaked dates in with the banana to sweeten it up. Other than that I followed the recipe and the bread was perfect.

Made this tonight, forgot to add butter, and surprising it turned out great. My teens ate it, which they can be picky.
I used 3tb honey and 1/4 tsp stevia.
Baked longer 60 minutes.
Thanks for giving recipe.
Keep the recipes coming.
Kathy

Some of the best banana bread I have ever made paleo or not. Super moist, great consistency, (used 1/4 c. honey as sweetener). People would not even know this was grain free dairy free (used 1/2 c. butter substitute). Thanks so much!! looking forward to trying your other recipes.

Oh my gosh! Made these today and they were a hit with the non-paleo fam. Made 12 muffins with this recipe, and they were done in 25 minutes. I didn’t have cacao nibs, so I pressed a piece of 77% dark chocolate into the center of each muffin instead. Heavenly!

Sorry I’m so late to the party! First off, I’m so impressed with you and your accomplishments! I can only hope my boys turn out as amazing as you seem to be. Second, I need to try this bread again with a few adjustments. The center is still pretty mushy. Turns out my almond flour is almond meal though it’s still pretty fine. My bananas were biggish, so maybe should have stopped at two. I subbed agave for honey, and maybe it’s not thick enough. I did add more coconut flour to the batter, and going into the pan it looked quite promising. I was afraid of baking it longer due to the top being done, I didn’t want to burn it. The flavor was pretty good though!

OMG – I loved this recipe! Thank you for all your experimental efforts. I am just getting interested in Paleo, saw the reviews and baked a loaf yesterday following the recipe (using 1/3 c. honey). It is delicious!

These turned out great! I do paleo so I didnt use butter and omitted half the oil for unsweetened applesauce so 1/4 & 1/4 cup each. Also added some chopped walnuts. Made 12 muffins! I calculated it at 182 calories the way I did it. I think next time ill omit the nuts and do fruit and do mostly applesauce vs oil. Thanks for the recipe!

Many people that are “Paleo” eat butter but typically only when it’s grass-fed. The same can be said with many grass-fed full fat dairy products, it all depends on the person. If you don’t want to use butter then use coconut oil like I recommended. You can also google all of the ingredients and find out if they are “Paleo”.

I’ve recently become gluten free after doing a sugar detox for 3 weeks. I used more coconut flour than called for because it wasn’t the Bob’s Red Mill brand, but my almond flour was. I used 1/4 tsp dry organic stevia- I looked up how to substitute powdered stevia for liquid and it’s one for one. I also used at least 3/4 tsp of salt because I needed to balance the sweetness. I only had 1/8 cup of cocoa nibs. The flavor is fantastic! but I found it to be greasy. So next time I am going to get the Bob’s Red Mill Coconut flour. I’m considering cutting down on the butter. Thank you for the recipe!

I’ve found it hard to locate coconut and almond flour from local sources in England, so I went with gluten free flour.

My first attempt at this ended up with a liquid mixture that I foolishly decided to stick in the oven, the results were edible, but took a long time to get solid and all the nibs ended up at the bottom. What can I say? I’ve not baked anything since I was a kid.

However my second attempt this week I kept adding more 1/4 cups of flour until I reached the right consistency. I’m happy to say Version 2 was much better. I also found sources online for the right flour from within the UK so I will try it again and see if Version 3 can be even better.

This is the most amazing bread. I am eating it weekly. I only use 1/8 cup of the honey and a little less coconut oil than the recipe calls for, but I use chocolate chips, less than 1/4 cup. What a hearty yummy bread! Thank you!

My kitchen smells so wonderful this evening. It is my first attempt at baking in several decades. Never have done Banana Bread and so glad I came across your recipe. I did have to modify it with different flours/meals. I am allergic to Coconut so can not use it in any manner. Went shopping and could not find any Almond Flour other than Almond Meal. Went to so many stores / chains to no avail. Read all of your replies in hopes to find substitutes. Went with Flaxseed Meal for Coconut Flour and Almond Meal for Almond Flour. Did not add or change measurements from your ingredient list. Did let the loose / runny batter sit for about 10 minutes after mixing it all together; this seemed to help and allow the batter to thicken. Baked it for about 30 minutes at suggested temperature and then lowered it from 350 to 315 for 25 minutes. Again, haven’t baked in forever but your recipe looked amazing and my results turned out wonderfully! Thank you for caring and sharing your gift and love of Paleo recipes. Deeply grateful.

These are my go to muffins that I make since going semi-paleo about 9 months ago. Even my husband loooves them. I usually use dark chocolate chips but these have literally got me through some rough no grain times. I have brought them to parties and everyone loves them. they don’t taste like a paleo dessert, so light and fluffy.

A WINNER! THANKS! My bananas were not overly ripe and were frozen/defrosted. I only had 1/2 cup, so added 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (Trader Joe’s). Used Bob’s for almond and coconut flours. Added 2 tablespoons extra of each so batter is on dry side (I read what you want for coconut flour batters).

I liked there was just a delicate hint of sweetness from using White Gold raw honey from Canada. Next time I’ll grind up some fresh stevia and use pecans instead of cacao nibs. YES, there will be a next time! This is a great base to use other fruits. I’m thinking strawberries. And NO, I couldn’t wait for the loaf to cool down in 30 minutes.

I just made this with just a couple of modifications to fit my current diet adventure (xylitol instead of honey and coconut oil for butter)… So, so good!! The cacao nibs give it a nutty but slightly chocolatey flavor, it’s not sweet, you can actually taste the banana. Yum! I did bake it a little longer, about 55 minutes, and it came out perfect. Thank you!!

I just made this banana bread. It came out perfect. Thanks for the recipe! There are so many paleo banana bread recipes out on the web. Glad I found one that has the perfect amount of sweetness and texture!

I just made this bread this evening and it was wonderful. I didn’t have cacao nibs, so I used Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips and eliminated the honey/stevia. Instead, I added an extra half banana. I am enjoying a slice as I type this review. Thank you for the awesome banana bread recipe. And you can totally claim it as the best paleo banana bread. (-;

No if you use all coconut flour then you will get a batter that is way too thick. And cacao powder is a different type of dry ingredient so if you add that it will act more as a flour rather than solid bits in the banana bread.

I’ve had a bunch of over-ripe bananas on my counter for days begging to be used up, so I tried this and it was excellent!! I was especially pleased that the texture was almost exactly like “regular” banana bread, as I’ve tried several paleo bread/muffin recipes with unpalatable textures and I was starting to think that good paleo bread did not exist. I’m bookmarking a bunch of your other recipes too–they look delicious! Keep up the good work!

I have it in the oven right now!!!! It smells SO good! I added some walnuts to the batter, and turned my oven temp down to 300 (it’s a gas oven and has a tendency to burn literally everything)! Can’t wait to try it =)

I’ve made this recipe once before and I loved it. I wanted to make it again today, I’m just confused about the 350 degrees, my oven is gas and only goes up to 250 degrees, most cakes I make are only on 180 degrees. What would u recommend I cook it at?

I made this over the weekend and it was delicious! So moist! Even though I actually forgot to add baking soda it still came out very tasty. Was so impressed I have gone out and bought your cookbook and can’t wait for it to arrive 🙂

This is delicious and I make this recipe every weak 🙂 But I was wondering at what temperature and for how long I should bake them if I wanted to make muffins instead of a bread? Anyone has an idea? Thank you 🙂

Just made this it is great. Do you have a rough estimate of nutrition facts/values? I am paleo so i doesn’t matter to me, but a friend really loved it and she counts calories/fat/fiber and such…would really appreciate it thank you.

Thank you, thank you Josh!!! This is a heaven sent recipe for my sister, who suffers from Celiac disease, and myself, gluten-intolerant. It makes a delightful and perfect banana bread. I’ve baked it several times for non-Paleo, picky eaters and they devour it!!! I do add walnuts and a bit more raw honey which makes the mix runnier, therefore, after baking for 45 minutes, I check it and usually add another 5. Then if not ready, add 2 minutes at a time until ready. The top is crisp, but the inside soooo moist and just perfect! Just wondering, do you think this recipe will work for a pumpkin bread, substituting the banana for the pumpkin?

i think i’ve made this before, but i couldn’t remember, so i tried it again.

when i ran short on the second 1/4 C. of coconut flour to make the full 1/2 C., i added sorghum flour and 1 T. tapioca starch. when it still looked a bit wet after i completed mixing everything, i added 2 T. g-f oat flour.

josh, this is so close to the real thing that it will be my go-to banana bread recipe from now on. thanks for all you share so freely!

UNBELIEVABLE!
This has to be THE WORLD’s BEST PALEO BANANA CAKE – ever!
I have baked countless Paleo banana cakes from all the best known chefs, each with the promise of a traditional banana cake flavor and texture. None have delivered – until now. It’s DELICIOUS! (even without the choc chips!).
The toughest critic you will ever find is my 11 year old daughter who understands the principles of paleo and primal living but has yet to give a thumbs up to any of my attempts at baking paleo treats. This has scored a 10/10 in both our books!
We are inspired by your journey and look forward to hearing about your future successes.
Thank you for sharing. Have a wonderful day!
Kind regards, R & M.

as soon as i saw this recipe, i had to try it…..i suffer from fatigue, but i knew i could make this bread…..my bananas came from the freezer and the batter was still very cold when i put it in the oven….heh heh
my bread turned out great……very good and smelled awesome…..my husband and i could not wait for the bread to cool….we ate it straight from the oven….hot hot……
thanx so much for this amazing recipe

I just made this as muffins and can’t wait to try it. How do you store it? Room temp, fridge or freezer? I find it that every time I make coconut bread and store it in the fridge, it’s always too moist. It may not be true with this recipe but would like to ask just in case.

I never post comments on blogs but I had to for this one. This banana bread is totally amazing. Like what I remember it to be like PP (pre-paleo)Thanks so much for the recipe.
I’ve now subscribed and cant wait to explore more of your recipes

Pretty good. A little dry. The nibs definitely give a bit of bitterness (I liked them, the rest of my family didn’t). For my boys to enjoy more, I think I will replace 1/2 of the nibs with dark chocolate chips.

I would just add more by the tablespoon. A lot of the time if it is runny then it’s the brand of coconut flour that you are using. Coconut flour can be very finicky sometimes and it’s important that you use the right brand so that that it is always consistently produced. With that said I recommend this brand.

I make this banana bread all the time. Today I subbed canned pumpkin for the banana. I used 1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice in place of the cinnamon and doubled the stevia to 1/2 tsp. It turned out great! Baking time and temperature were the same. Next time I use pumpkin, I will increase stevia or honey even more… it could stand to be just a bit sweeter. Thanks Josh for the great recipe!

Thank you, thank you! This is absolutely delicious, and super moist as promised. It’s the first gf banana bread I’ve not only enjoyed but thought tasted better than many of the conventional varieties. And the best part is that I didn’t even have to make any high altitude backing adjustments, in spite of living at 7200′. Excellent recipe!

I made this recipe and noticed it’s VERY wet :/ The toothpick came out clean, I used 2 bananas and weighed the flours. But the last batch of coconut flour banana muffins I made ended up the same way. I was hoping adding the almond flour would help with the wetness but it hasn’t. I’ll use less banana’s next time

Oh My Gawd!!!!! This is amazing!!! Ok the first time I made it I used 4 med/large bananas and the end product turned out a little too undone/wet so I tried it again with 3 bananas, and I used a 1/3 cup of pure maple syrup, added some walnuts and dear god it is amazing with just the right amount of sweetness and extremely moist. Several people have tried this and had NO idea that this was made without real flour…BEST RECIPE EVER…no need to try anything else. I’m not a fan of the after taste of stevia and I have substituted honey for sugar in baking before and it never has the right amount of sweetness which is why I subbed maple syrup and I”m so glad I did. This is a must try no fail recipe whether you are paleo or not!!

Forgot to mention I used Trader Joe’s brand coconut flour and blanched almond flour and the recipe was great. I keep both of my alternative flours in the fridge to maintain freshness vs the cupboard not sure if this makes a difference but I read somewhere that the fridge is the best place to keep these types of flours.

Yummy recipe! I substituted fresh ground flax seed for the almond flour with great results. The batter was thinner than your photo but baked in 50 minutes. My husband was able to pick out the flavor of the flax seed but not the coconut, so this might work for some who doesn’t care for coconut flavor. Thanks for a great recipe!

Just made this today – DELISH! I’m always looking for a good paleo banana bread recipe. After reading comments on how this can be runny, here’s what I changed: I skipped the stevia/honey (ripe bananas should be sweet enough), and I used 1/2 cup Barney (almond) Butter to give it more texture…also doubled the chocolate and used Enjoy Life Mini Chips, which are paleo-friendly, Slather it in grass-fed butter and YUMO!

I made this bread several times in the past few weeks. This is the best banana bread ever! I don’t add the cacao nibs but instead, I sprinkle the bread with a more cinnamon and sprinkle it all over with chopped pecans. love this bread so much that I made it as holiday gifts this Christmas. Thank you!

Do you use large eggs or medium? I made the bread and used 4 large but had a slight eggy taste so I didn’t know if maybe your eggs were smaller? I buy the typical large eggs in the grocery store. I may try the recipe again but use 1 less egg…….

This was my first attempt at paleo baking. I had some extra bananas to get rid of. I made this recipe and another for paleo banana pancakes from another website. The pancakes were done first and they were quite disappointing. I didn’t have high hopes for this bread after those. Then I had my first bite. The texture, not unlike traditional banana bread. The flavor was rich and pleasing…so much so that I went for another slice. Even my daughter liked it and she is notoriously picky about “healthy” food. Thank you for this delicious recipe; it has inspired me to continue to explore the paleo diet.

I made this recipe using 1/2 C Almond flour and 6T Coconut flour and 2 T Tapioca flour because that’s what i had. Also no cocoa nibs so chopped up 1/2 walnuts. Used three small ,very ripe, organic bananas (1 Cup mashed), 1t of Cinnamon, 1t of vanilla and 1 t of almond extract,1 T of local raw honey and one T of agave syrup, as well as the 4 organise eggs and 1/2 cup of Ghee called for in the recipe. used small loaf pan and cooked an extra 5 min. Never had better banana bread and I’m 76.

I have been paleo for 3 years and as I love baking, I have tried many recipes over the year. I always found that they never turn out as on picture, but glad to say this one did.! I used coconut oil and sweetened it with raisins and walnuts. I also did a lower chocolate layer with cocoa powder. Its the best recipe I have ever found. thank you so much for this!!

I baked these accordingly except that I used 1 less egg and only 3/4 stick of butter (1 stick is about 1/2 cup) technically I used less of the wet ingredients but my brad came out really moist inside. I left them baking for 45 mins and couldn’t leave in any longer as they were burning on the top. Could it be I was using Red Bob’s almond meal and should have been almond flour? What’s the difference? I also used maple syrup instead of honey. Not sure what went wrong ;(

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